


take me down with you when you go

by MeansToOffend (goodmorning)



Series: Pick Me Up (Again) [4]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: 2017-2018 NHL Season, Chicago Blackhawks, dating or not dating? YOU DECIDE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 11:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17243294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodmorning/pseuds/MeansToOffend
Summary: "Tonight, in sum total, this is Duncs. Just Duncs. Brent doesn’t mind this at all, honestly."





	take me down with you when you go

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Water](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14046531) by [MeansToOffend (goodmorning)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodmorning/pseuds/MeansToOffend). 



After a couple seasons it’s easy to have exhausted everything there is for a visiting hockey player to do in Glendale. Besides, Brent is really too old at this point to find something new to do; he’d much rather stay in the hotel and hang out with the other old guys, whichever of them aren’t calling home or falling asleep in front of home improvement shows tonight.

Tonight, in sum total, this is Duncs. Just Duncs. Brent doesn’t mind this at all, honestly, not only because Duncs is the one guy who’s been with him his whole career, who knows the lows just as well as the highs, but also because he’s just better company than anyone else on the team. If Brent had to pick one teammate to be stuck with on a desert island, Duncs would be it. Not that it’s a likely scenario, but the choice would be easy.

It doesn’t take long for them to get comfortable in Duncs’ room, his well-used deck of cards blowing tiny snapping puffs of air at them both as he shuffles. If more of the guys had been down to chill tonight they’d have played with a higher buy-in, and Brent and Duncs would have quietly colluded to cheat them _just enough_ so as not to be suspicious. But when it’s just the two of them, they don’t cheat, much, and they play for less money, because it’s more about the company than winning.

Then again, maybe Brent _would_ feel that way, since he’s usually the one who loses. But, regardless, he needs change, because he wasn’t prepared for the quietest night in to happen just yet. So he heads out into the hallway to see if he can catch some unsuspecting rookie to fine, or at least someone who might have some small bills. He takes a lap to the end of the hallway with no luck, turns around and heads back, and just as he passes Duncs’ room again, Saader comes flying around the corner and runs right into him. 

“Hey, Saader, got change for a twenty?” he asks, automatically. Then he notices that Saader has company, some skinny college-looking kid, and he can’t quite stop himself from staring.

“Um,” the kid is saying, and Saader is fumbling in his pocket, and Brent has no idea what the correct response is to a teammate accidentally outing himself which he’s pretty sure is what just happened, “Should I…?”

Duncs opens his door, thank fuck, and starts hauling Brent inside by his shirt. “We call him Saader because he’s a welder,” he says, and Brent loves what a fucking genius he is at reading the play and responding on the fly.

“ _Oh_ , because welders solder-” he says, cut off when the door closes behind them and Duncs covers both their mouths, shoulders shaking with silent, uncontrollable laughter.

After he finally calms down, he says, “I found some change for you, by the way,” so matter-of-factly that _Brent_ starts laughing, which sets Duncs off again, and it’s a few minutes more before they manage to actually start their game.

Duncs wins, as usual. It’s embarrassingly quick at the end, the way the last five dollars slip away, but that’s Duncs’ killer instinct in play again. It’s when they’re sitting quietly and thinking of things to do next, Brent wishing they were younger so he could get Duncs drunk and prank-y, that they hear Saader’s voice in the hallway, murmuring words they can’t quite make out. By the time they get out there, though, he’s gone.

So maybe they lie in wait for when he comes back. That’s what teammates do, isn’t it? And it’ll give Saader a chance to tell them whatever story he wants without having to seek them out later. It’s a real time saver as well as being downright nice, if Brent says so himself.

Saader comes rushing around the corner again, straight into Brent, _again_. He doesn’t run into Duncs, even though Duncs is literally right next to Brent. But, then, that’s kind of how it always is with the two of them. Duncs has a way of being in the right place at the right time. Underneath all this introspective silliness, though, is the slowly dawning realisation that Saader is just staring at them without speaking. Brent knows a thousand ways of starting a conversation, but he can’t really think of one that would be particularly appropriate here.

Fortunately, he doesn’t have to. Duncs asks, “Friend of yours?” in the perfect tone of mild curiosity, no value judgment implied, and saves the day.

Maybe Saader doesn’t think so, though. It takes him a minute to say anything, still, and Brent watches him take deep breaths and square his jaw before he says, “Don’t even know his real name,” with a small smile on his face like it’s there in spite of himself. 

Brent can feel himself failing to contain his own grin. “Shit, get it!” he says, maybe a little too loud for a hotel hallway but oh well, and socks him in the arm with glee and camaraderie and waggly eyebrows.

Saader makes for his own room not long after that, and they’re back to wondering what the hell they should do now. And maybe Duncs is just a little drunk on Saader’s coming-out, because he suggests a prank. Unfortunately, though, the best pranks work when people are out of their rooms and they can talk the hotel out of an extra key, but Brent’s pretty sure that everyone’s in for the night, it’s impossible to tell if they aren’t without knocking on doors, and he’s not about to go waking anyone up just to check if they’re around. Besides, Tazer’s the one who’s really fun to prank, and he’s definitely asleep already, the nerd.

So Duncs makes a different suggestion, cards in hand. “I may have taken your money, Seabsy, but you still have your pride,” he says, and how can Brent resist that?

**Author's Note:**

> \- Title from the incomparable "Chelsea Dagger", of course.  
> \- What game was being suggested at the end? Well, who knows???? Dating or not dating? Well, I sure as hell couldn't decide!!!!!  
> \- I'm aiming for one of these per week now so we'll see if I can actually work a deadline.  
> \- And a happy 2019 to everyone!


End file.
